A few months ago we wrote about our close friend Lizza Clark and local students raising money for Typhoon Haiyan Victims.
Now another dear friend is supporting this important cause in an extraordinary way. Christine Duque has helped to create an Extraordinary Way to Give Back to her home country. Born in the Philippines, Christine came to the United States at the age of 15 to study opera at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. After graduating from college, she initially pursued a career as a singer and worked with various young artists’ programs, singing professionally at prestigious venues and with such acclaimed classical conductors as James Conlon and Erich Kunzel. Eventually, though, she switched to a career in marketing, where she steered her creative talents into helping brands connect with people. Last year after the typhoon hit, she joined with her friend Stella Abrera, a Filipino-American ballerina soloist with American Ballet Theater, to help raise money for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, by founding Steps Forward for the Philippines.
Here is her guest post about an Extraordinary Way to Give Back to her home country:
On my birthday last year, November 8, 2013, the most powerful storm in recorded history to make landfall devastated Southeast Asia. The Philippines was especially hard hit. In that country alone, the storm affected 16 million people (including 5.9 million children), leaving 6,300 dead and four million displaced. As of January of this year, they were still finding bodies.
Homeless but Still Hopeful
Rebuilding efforts are progressing slowly amid the ruins. As a result of so many people losing all of their possessions and being left homeless, child labor rates are rising in the typhoon-hit areas. According to the Associated Press, a joint assessment conducted in April 2014 by the International Labor Organization, the United Nations, the Philippine authorities, and others found that “54 per cent of 112 surveyed villages reported that children were involved in harsh and dangerous labor, with 39 per cent of them saying the number of such children increased after the typhoon struck.” The joint assessment also said that “82 per cent of villages reported that the children had volunteered to do harsh work to support themselves or their families.“
Increasing access to education for the children affected by the typhoon is a top priority in combating the rising child labor rates. The current conditions for education often verge on hazardous, with many classes being held in overcrowded, makeshift schoolhouses. Supplies are scarce.
Stella Abrera, Filipino-American Soloist with American Ballet Theater
One of my good friends is American Ballet Theater soloist Stella Abrera, who is also a first-generation Filipino-American. She was invited by Ballet Philippines to perform the leading role in Giselle at the company’s 45th Gala Anniversary, also marking the first time she would be performing in the country of her heritage. Shortly after she received the invitation to dance in Manila, Super Typhoon Haiyan hit. Stella felt that her upcoming visit to that country needed to contribute somehow to the relief efforts there, so she founded Steps Forward for the Philippines, and I took the #StepForward with her.
Steps Forward for the Philippines is dedicated to serving the educational and creative needs of the children in the Philippines. We have partnered with the disaster relief organization Operation USA, who is on the ground assisting with the relief efforts. Operation USA and Honeywell have joined in building a school in the region, and Steps Forward for the Philippines is charged with supplying the school. Our goal is to raise $30,000, which will directly provide educational tools and equipment to motivate and help the elementary school children of Guiuan succeed.
Steps Forward for the Philippines with Ballerina Stella Abrera from StepsForwardPH on Vimeo.
Stella is currently in the Philippines and has visited Guiuan to survey Operation USA’s educational initiatives in the area. She had a chance to meet with the children in the region, the school principal and some teachers at the school. Construction is well underway, and the completed structures are sturdy and sound. Our group still needs help to be able to deliver its portion of the project, which is supplying the schools with such educational tools and equipment as desks, chairs, books, chalkboards, computers, fans and audiovisual equipment, as well as simple things like crayons, pens, pencils and paper.
Many of our friends, Stella’s fans and her fellow dancers have generously responded to our appeal to “Step Forward,” and we’ve raised a little over half of our targeted goal. But we still need help! For 100 million children around the world, school is just a dream, and you can help make these dreams a reality for several hundred children in this devastated region. Please join us in our mission to help the children of Guiuan take steps forward into a brighter future.
Step Forward with us by making a donation at Steps Forward. All donations to our cause can be made throughOperation USA and are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by the law. Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter @StepsForwardPH.
We salute Christine and Stella for An Extraordinary Way to Give Back to Help Victims of Typhoon Haiyan, and we hope you will support their cause!
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- Aid for Philippine Typhoon Victims
- An Extraordinary Woman who Conquered Adversity to Help Others
- An Extraordinary Cause: Heart Care International
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